The Bandit's Brother
by VerdeSaiyan
Summary: After coming back to life, Keith Howard pays a visit to an estranged family member, only to be turned away. However, dark powers are at work, and they want Keith! Will his brother be able to save him, or will the darkness claim him as well?(Takes place after Yu-Gi-Oh R, uses Manga Timeline)
1. Chapter 1

**This is a story taking place in the manga timeline, set between Yu-Gi-Oh R and Yu-Gi-Oh Millenium World, meaning that any canon characters would be referred to by their original names(English Manga translation); i.e. Yugi Muto = Yugi Mutou, Joey Wheeler = Katsuya Jonouchi, Tea Gardner = Anzu Mazaki; etc.**

 **The following rules are used for Duel Monsters-**

 **Both players start off with 4000 Life Points and five cards in hand. The player that takes the first turn skips their draw phase. You can only play/set a maximum of one Spell Card and one Trap Card per turn. You may not play two or more of either. Fusion Monsters are treated not as actual cards, but as their materials instead, with Polymerization being active the whole time the Fusion is on the field, ergo they would be treated as the number of materials for a tribute summon(referred to as "Sacrifice Summon" {but if you offer any as a tribute, all of the materials must be tributed, this would result in the Fusion ceasing to exist.}) Fusion Monsters may not attack the turn they are created. All Spell Cards except Continous Spell Cards are treated as Quickplay Spell Cards.**

 **If one player's Lp reaches zero or runs out of cards in the Deck, the other player wins.**

 **This is a story about a duelist related to a rather...infamous former champion. Without further ado, let's begin!**

In the city of Miami, Florida, the final round of a Duel Monsters Tournament, titled the First Annual Pegasus Memorial Match was underway.

On one side stood a man with blond cornrows with a white tank-top and baggy trousers. He wears the Kaiba Corporation Duel Disk on his left arm. His field held three annoying monsters-Ojama Yellow, Ojama Black, and Ojama Green. (0ATK/1000DEF X 3) Two reversed cards as well as Swords of Revealing Light were in his Spell & Trap Card Zone.

Chase-1200 Lp.

Across from him was a boy of eighteen with a single monster on his field-the Blackland Fire Dragon(1500ATK/800DEF), held at bay by the mystic swords. He had short black hair, with lightly tanned skin, wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt, jeans and boots. He also wore a Duel Disk.

Luke-4000 Lp.

Chase smirked. "You may have been winning up to this point, but now I'll win this game!"

His opponent yawned and covered his mouth. "Whatever."

Chase growled, drawing his card. "I activate Polymerization! This'll combine my three Ojamas into the King of Distrubing Beasts-Ojama King!" The three creatures morphed into a titanic white behemoth wearing a bikini bottom (as well as one over his head) a crown, and a cape. (0ATK/3000DEF)

Luke nearly puked at the sight of the ugly monster. "Disgusting thing."

"Now because Ojama King is on the field, you can only use TWO Monster Zones!" Chase added. "And one of them has that pansy dragon of yours! Your turn!"

"Draw!" Luke announced. He took the card he'd drawn and plucked Blackland Fire Dragon's card from his Disk.

"I offer Blackland Fire Dragon as sacrifice to summon Tiger Dragon!" The green cave dragon was engulfed in a vortex and was replaced by a creature resembling a cross between a Chinese dragon and a bengal tiger. (2400ATK/1800DEF)

"Big deal! My swords'll hold him down until the end of this turn anyway!" Chase boasted.

"Actually they won't. When Tiger Dragon is summoned by sacrificing a Dragon, it can destroy two Spell or Trap Cards."

"Wha-!?"

"Attack! Forbidden Roar!" The tiger/dragon hybrid roared, whipping up a wind that ripped apart the magic swords, and one of Chase's face-downs.

' _That Trap was my Widespread Ruin-_! _Without it-_ "

"And I have a Spell Card that you'll really like. Stop Defense!" He plugged the card into his Disk, and Ojama King stood up.

"Tiger Dragon! Get that thing outta my sight! Tiger Pounce!" The dragon glided across the field, throwing itself at Ojama King, and rending it apart with it's claws.

Chase fell to his knees as the solid vision monster disappeared. "I lost..."

Luke walked up to him. "You may have lost, but you can do better. Keep trying and you'll win."

His opponent groaned before waving his hand derogitoraly and walked away.

One of the tournament organizers walked up and handed Luke a trophy of Toon Dark Magician Girl and Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon standing next to a bust of Maximillion J. Pegasus.

"Congratulations, Mr. Howard-" He said before Luke took the trophy in one hand before placing a finger firmly against his forhead.

"It's Oren now. Luke Oren."

"Forgive me. I meant no disrespect." The organizer said.

"It's alright. It is a recent change after all."

"In addition to the trophy, you've also won this." He handed him a deck of cards wrapped carefully in plastic.

"What is it?" asked Luke.

"A replica of Mr. Pegasus' personal Dueling Deck. I hope you'll treat it with all the respect and reverence it deserves."

After posing for a photo, Luke got in a taxi that took him to the airport. After a three hour flight, he arrived home- a small single story house in Omaha, Nebraska with a few bushes blocking the windows.

He took note of the muddy pickup truck in his driveway.

"That looks like...no...it couldn't be..." whispered Luke as he walked up, bewildered. He went inside, following the muddy bootprints that lead all the way to his pantry. He was shocked at the sight of the figure sitting in the floor.

An unshaven blond-haired brute with blue-eyes. He wore sunglasses that slooped off his face, an American Flag bandana wrapped around his fist, which was soaked with blood, shards of glass stabbing into his flesh. His clothing was a sleeveless gray shirt with kakhi pants and knee-high lace up boots. The man held a whiskey bottle in his left hand, taking a swig of it before throwing it behind him, causing it to shatter against the wall.

"Well, look who finally showed!" The stranger said. Though he was no stranger to Luke.

"K...Keith!? Why are you here!?"

"Can't a guy visit his little brother?" He asked with a smirk.

"B...but you're dead!"

" **Was** dead. Ma and Pop were shocked too, when I went to ask them where you were."

"How!? People don't just spring back to life after they blow their brains out!"

"You're not exactly gonna believe it, but let's just say I was brought back to life by some nut named Tenma that wanted revenge for Pegasus's murder."

"That still doesn't explain how!?"

Keith smirked again and pulled a deck of Duel Monsters cards from his pocket. "This. I still don't know how to explain it. He said pieces of my soul were in these cards, but I don't really believe that."

Luke was rather bewildered, but had no time to ponder the thought. Keith rose up and kicked him sharply in the ribs.

"Gak! What'd'ja do that for!?"

"Have I ever really needed a reason to kick you around?" asked Keith, who made his way to the refrigerator and opening it. "Now, what do you have to eat in this place? Let's see..."

"So I see you're still doing the blond hair thing," said Luke as he picked himself up.

"Yeah, but some punk I dueled really makes me wanna dye it back." Keith replied with a frown.

"Was it Katsuya Jonouchi?"

"Don't even say that ****'s name!" His brother shouted, throwing a jar at Luke, who barely managed to dodge it. "He's the reason I lost! He's the reason I'm a nobody! He's the reason I died in the first place!"

"If you were any kind of real duelist, you wouldn't have been dead and you might not have lost."

"What, you think you could've done any better!?"

"Yeah. I could've. You resort to cheating and other dirty tricks, and when things don't go your way, you either beat your opponent up, or-like you tried to do to Pegasus, hold them at gunpoint and threaten to kill 'em!"

Keith shot him a death glare and growled.

"Fine...know what? Let's have a match to see if you can cash those checks your mouth have been writing. And if you lose, I'm taking every single card you've got, trashing your house, AND making you wear some bruises for a while!"

Luke scowled right back at Keith until they were eye to eye. "You want it, you got it! But if I win, you get out of here, and never come back-dead, alive, or whatever the hell you technically are!"

Minutes later, the two of them were outside on the sidewalk, ready for their game. Each of them shuffled their Decks.

"Still going with Dragons?" Keith asked.

"Yeah. Still running those rusty Machines of yours?"

"Go with what works. After all, a weapon is better than any dumb animal, because a weapon exists only to do what you want it to."

"Did we agree to talk or duel!?" Luke growled, lifting his Duel Disk.

"Duel."

The two drew their five cards.

"I've got this in the bag. I summon Oni-Tank T-34!" A tank with a demonic face appeared, rolling onto the battlefield. (1400ATK/1700DEF) "Then I'll toss two cards face-down and end my turn. Your move, little bro!"

"My turn. Draw!" shouted Luke. "I summon **Armored Dragon**!" A large dragon standing on it's hind legs with armor-like hide appeared. ( 1900ATK/1400DEF)

Keith smirked, eyeing his set cards.

"I activate Stamping Destruction!" Luke said, plugging a Spell into his Disk. Keith's left face-down shattered, and he was hit by a pressured draft.

Keith-3500 Lp.

"Lemme guess, your Limiter Removal?"

"Shaddap!"

"Fine. Armored Dragon'll do the talking! Attack!" The dragon slugged the tank, causing it to tumble over, and shatter.

Keith-3000 Lp.

"I set one card and end my turn."

"Draw!" Keith announced. "I summon Guardian of the Throne Room!" A large yellow robot with missile launchers appeared. (1650ATK/1600DEF) "Next I'll pile on the Spell **Engine Tuner**!" Several goblins in repairmen outfit appeared on Guardian of the Throne Room, working on it. "This equips onto a Machine-Type monster, and gives it ATK equal half of it's DEF!" (1650-2450ATK)

"Guardian of the Throne Room, blast that Armored Dragon! Doom Bombardment!" The robot launched a barrage of missiles at Luke's monster, destroying it.

Luke-3450 Lp.

"I activate my face-down." Luke countered. " **Bond of Dragons**! This lets me Special Summon a Level 4 Dragon-Type Monster from my Deck when one I control is destroyed!

"To me, **Dragonic Warrior**!" A humanoid dragon wearing knights armor appeared, lifting a heavy sword. ( 1500ATK/1000DEF)

"Heh! I get your strategy! You were gonna summon that guy and use Dragon Unit Ritual to combine it with Armored Dragon to make Dragonic Knight! Well to hell with that move! Haha!

"Go ahead and take your turn."

Luke drew. "Spell Card! **Twin Dragons**!" He held up a card showing two dragons hatching from the same egg. "It lets me Special Summon a Dragon from my Hand with Stars equal to the number on a Four-or fewer Star Dragon on my field!

"Come out, Blackland Fire Dragon!" The green cave dragon appeared with a growl. (1500ATK/700DEF)

"I sacrifice Blackland Fire and Dragonic Warrior to summon **Burning Dragon**!" The two lesser beasts disappeared and were replaced by a large Eastern-style dragon with hide of molten rock. ( 2500ATK/2100DEF)

"That's...a new one..." noted Keith.

"When this beast is summoned...all Spell and Trap Cards are destroyed as well. **Magma Flow**!" The creature belched a stream of fiery magma that rushed over Keith's face-down and Engine Tuner. Guardian of the Throne Room's ATK fell back to normal.

"Attack! Eruption Blast!" The dragon belched again, this time shooting fire at the robot before it, melting it into slag.

Keith-2150 Lp.

"Hot enough for ya, _bro_?" Luke asked.

"I am so breaking your !^%#(*& nose when this is over!" growled Keith.

"You'll have to win first, Keith! I set one card face-down and end my turn!"

"I draw!" Keith shouted. "Now I activate Monster Reborn!" The holy ankh appeared, reviving Guardian of the Throne Room. "I sacrifice this puny monster for Machine King!" The robot vanished and was replaced by a larger rust red robot with horns and rocket fists. (2200-2300ATK/2000)

"I throw one card face-down and end my turn."

Luke drew his card. "Masked Dragon!" A rust red and cream colored dragon with it's face bound in a mask appeared with a growl. (1400ATK/1100DEF)

"Burning Dragon, rip that Machine King apart!" The molten wrym charged at the regal robot, rending him apart.

Keith-1950 Lp.

"That gets rid of-huh!?"

A large metal capsule appeared where Machine King once stood. It opened, and the same Machine stepped out, good as new. (2200-2300ATK)

"You triggered my Time Machine!" Keith said with a snicker. "That dumbass I fought actually _gave it back to me_ after he swiped it from me at Duelist Kingdom. Well now it's back where it belongs!"

Luke scowled, before plugging another card into his Disk. A reversed card appeared before him in a flash. "End of turn."

"Draw!" Keith shouted. He looked to the card and smirked. "I summon **Motor Shell**!" A strange robot appeared resembling a car's engine block with a pair of spiked hubcaps to defend itself. ( 1300ATK/1800DEF) Machine King raised his fists at the presence of another Machine. (2300-2400ATK)

"I set one card and attack that &%$$# Masked Dragon with Machine King!" Machine King aimed his fist and shot it out like a missile. It hit Masked Dragon sending it to it's demise with a bellow.

"You know my Masked Dragon's effect full well, Keith," began Luke.

"Yeah, yeah, hurry up and bring on your next stupid Dragon so I can kill it too!"

Luke leafed through his cards before placing another Masked Dragon on his Disk-this time in Defense Mode.

"I think that's enough for one turn. Heh-heh!"

"My turn. Draw!" Luke shouted. "And I attack with Burning Dragon! Send Machine King back to the junkyard with Eruption Blast!" His monster roared, belching another blast of flame at Keith's Machine, but it survived the attack.

"What the-?!"

"Har-Har-Har! I activated another Trap Card." Keith laughed. "It's a doozy called DNA Surgery!"

Luke gasped as his monsters changed, becoming metallized. "What's the meaning of this?!"

"DNA Surgery changes all your Monsters into whatever Type I want them to be! And I picked Machine!"

"But...Machine King gains 100ATK for each Machine on the field-!" (2400-2600ATK)

"That's right! Machine King, counter-attack Burning Dragon! Rocket Punch!" The robot threw it's fist forward, reducing the metallized Burning Dragon to shrapnel.

Luke-3350 Lp.

"Better think of something new, little man!" Keith smirked.

"I...summon Troop Dragon in defense mode and end my turn." A small anthropomorphic green dragon dressed as an ancient Roman legionnaire appeared before turning into a draconian robot. (900ATK/700DEF)

' _Keith's Machine King has too many defense points to be destroyed by my face-down Burst Breath now...I need to draw a better Dragon to use it! Still...if I know him, he'll use Motor Shell as a sacrifice to summon Motor Violence or Pendulum Machine...I still have a chance!_ ' Luke thought.

Keith drew his next card. "Get ready, Luke. I sacrifice Motor Shell-" The enigmatic robot disappeared. "And summon **Motor Violence**!" A larger robot with a more advanced form than Motor Shell appeared. It's arms ended in blasters. ( 2100ATK/1200DEF)

"Motor Violence! Machine King! Simultaneous Attack!" The two ruinous machines assaulted the two dragons, only to be replaced by another Masked Dragon and Troop Dragon.

"One more Masked Dragon, and two more Troop Dragons," said Keith. "Not much longer and I'll be whaling on your Life Points!"

"That might be, but It's my turn now. Draw!" said Luke. He looked at the card and smirked.

"Tell me something...Jonouchi used nice Dragon-Type Monster too, didn't he. A really rare one I recall..."

"What are you getting at?" Keith asked.

Luke showed him the card. "I'll ditch my Troop Dragon and my last Masked Dragon to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" The two smaller dragons disappeared, and were replaced by a large Western-Style Dragon with black hide and burning crimson eyes. (2400ATK/2000DEF)

Keith gasped before his hatred boiled to the surface. He remembered _his_ face.

' _J...Jonouchi_ -!' He thought. " _That bastard finds me wherever I go-!_ "

"Bro...where did you get that card?" He asked with a menacing tone, gritting his teeth.

"Won it in an ante tournament, like that Battle City that Kaiba Corporation held a little while ago. I think it suits this Dragon Deck to a 'T' don't you?"

"Smart ass!" Keith shouted. "DNA Surgery turns Red-Eyes Black Dragon into a Machine-Type Monster!"

True to his word, Red-Eyes's body turned mechanical, not unlike it's Metalmorph'ed counterpart.

Luke set one card and waved his hand. "Your move."

"Draw!" Keith shouted. "I activate a Spell called Night Beam!" A laser beam shot from the his Duel Disk, and hit Luke's older face-down.

"Can't run the risk of hitting that nasty Burst Breath! Next I attack with Machine King! Rocket Punch!" The red and silver robot launched it's fist at the black dragon, shattering it.

Luke-3250 Lp.

"Nice move, but doing that triggered my other face-down."

"You gotta be $#!##!(& me!" Keith cursed. "I _missed_ Burst Breath?!"

"No, you hit it. But this other card is more useful." It flipped up showing an image of Red-Eyes Black Dragon exploding. "Red-Eyes Burn!" The card released a dome of red-hot fire, encompassing the field, causing Motor Violence and Machine King to explode.

Keith was thrown back by the force of the blast as his Life Points hit zero.

"You lost." Luke said, walking over and taking Keith's cards. He leafed through them and took a card that he knew was his most valuable. "I'm taking your Barrel Dragon as payback for all the cards you stole from me." He dropped the others a foot away from Keith's hand.

"What do you-"

"I know all about it, so don't play dumb," his brother said. "You took four of my Decks- a total number of one-hundred and sixty cards with you to Duelist Kingdom, not to mention God only knows how many other of your own cards, or 'acquisitions' from other duelists, as well as your own Deck, knowing full well it was against tournament regulations!

"You are a disgrace to all duelists, and to the Howard name, which is the whole reason I changed mine when I left home!

"So get out of here, and get out of my sight!"

"Why you little-!" Keith growled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handgun. He struggled with his finger on the trigger, pointed in Luke's face.

"Bah!" He threw the gun down and left in his truck.

A few minutes after watching him leave, Luke walked back to his house.

"Guess I'll have to explain the damages to the landlord. Oh well. I need some shut-eye."

 **0**

As Keith Howard drove away, he focused on Jonouchi and Luke.

"Heh...who needs 'em." He said aloud, as he flew down the empty road at higher than necessary speeds. In the blink of an eye, a dark figure appeared in the middle his lane. "What the-?!"

In order to miss him, he swerved out of the way, only for the truck to tumble over, windows breaking.

A minute later, Keith scrambled out of the downed truck, patting himself down. "I...I'm alive! I'm alive..."

" _ **Not for long**_..." A haunting voice echoed from behind.

Keith turned to the black robed figure. "Hey! You )%$!" You caused me to wreck my ride! I hope you got ass-whooping insurance!" He slammed his fist into the palm of his hand, as an intimidation effort. The figure was not deterred.

" _ **Your soul is not meant to be among the living**_... _ **a spirit that echoes life and death**_... _ **an unnatural thing**_..." The figure approached him. Keith tried to punch him in the face, but it grabbed his wrist and his mouth.

Keith gasped and grunted, but his gasps and grunts turned to shrieks and whimpers when he saw his attacker's pale...withered face, and soulless black eyes.

 **0**

 **Things don't look good for Bandit Keith! Will Luke be able to hold this attacker off when it comes for him?**

 **As a note, I have Keith not as a natural blond because it would be odd for his English version self in the anime to refer to Joey/Jonouchi as "Blondy."**

 **Card Index**

 **Motor Shell**

 **Level 4/Attribute Unknown(Presumably DARK)/Machine/Effect/1300ATK/1800DEF**

 **When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, Special Summon 1 "Parts Token" in Attack Position(Level 1/DARK/MACHINE/0ATK/0DEF) This Token cannot be placed in Defense Position.**

 **Motor Violence**

 **Level 6/Attribute Unknown(Presumably DARK)/Machine/Effect/2100ATK/1200DEF**

 **When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, Special Summon 2 "Parts Tokens" in attack position(stats listed above) These tokens cannot be placed in defense mode.**

 **Engine Tuner**

 **Equip Spell Card**

 **Equip this card to the Machine-Type Monster on the field with the highest ATK. It gains ATK equal to half it's DEF. This card remains face-up on the field even if the equipped monster is destroyed, and may be used again during either Main Phase.**

 _ **Note: These cards were used by "Bandit" Keith Howard(obviously) in Yu-Gi-Oh R. Creative credit goes to Akira Ito and others involved in that project.**_

 **Dragonic Warrior**

 **Level 4/Attribute Unknown(Possibly EARTH, DARK, or FIRE)/Dragon/1500ATK/1000DEF**

 **Armored Dragon**

 **Level 4/Attribute Unknown(Possibly EARTH, DARK, or FIRE)/Dragon/1900ATK/1400DEF**

 **Bond of Dragons**

 **Trap Card**

 **When a Level 4 or Lower Dragon-Type Monster you control is destroyed: Special Summon a Level 4 or Lower Dragon-Type Monster from your Deck.**

 **Twin Dragons**

 **Normal Spell Card**

 **Select 1 Level 4 or lower Dragon-Type Monster on your Field: Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type Monster from your Hand with the same Level.**

 **Burning Dragon**

 **Level 8/FIRE(Presumably)/Dragon/Effect/2500ATK/2100DEF**

 **When this card is Summoned: destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the Field.**

 _ **Note: The preceding five cards were used by Jun Majome/Chazz Princeton in the Yu-Gi-Oh GX manga. Creative Credit goes to the writers.**_


	2. Chapter 2

A day later, the news broadcast a rather frightening story.

Keith was discovered in an unresponsive state-in other words, he was in a coma-outside one of the bordering towns next to his overturned pick-up truck.

Luke, despite his grudge against him, went to see his older brother in the hospital. To his confusion, and a bit of anxiety, Keith's face seemed to have an omnipresent shadow cast over it, and his eyes were blank white. His expression was frozen in a look of terror.

"What's wrong with him?" Luke asked the nearby nurse.

"Well, Doctor Gaile hasn't been able to diagnose the cause of his coma. He isn't suffering from any crash-related injuries, spinal trauma, brain damage, or anything of the such, but we're grasping at straws to come up with any kind of explanation. At this point we can only keep him hooked up to life support and hope he wakes up...but his insurance will expire within three weeks, and then we have to pull the plug."

Luke frowned. He hated his brother from the bottom of his heart, but he didn't deserve to die the first time, much less again after coming back.

He overlapped Keith's hand with his own. "Keith...I don't like you, but we are still brothers...I'll try and find out what happened, and then, I'll try and see if I can help you."

After a moment of silence, with nothing but the constant tone of the heart monitor to answer him, Luke left the hospital.

' _I'll go to the scene of the wreck and see if there's anything more to the accident._ ' He thought.

 **0**

An hour later, Luke got out of his car-a '95 Nissan Maxima- and walked out to the scene of where Keith's truck turned over. Skid marks were burned into the pavement.

"Must've been trying to avoid something in the road...but if it was another car, there should be two sets of skids...was it a person...or a deer or something?"

" _ **A person...or a deer**_?" Someone nearby asked. " _ **A little insulting...It was me.**_ "

Luke whirled around to see a man with a black hooded cloak. He also wore a Duel Disk on his left arm.

"Who are you!?"

The man lowered his hood, revealing his face-his skin was wrinkly, and his eyes were purely black. No irises, or sclera. On his forhead was a stylized tattoo of a letter T.

" _ **I am called Vurian**_." The man said. " _ **And I am a soulkeeper**_."

"Just what is that?" Luke asked. "Are you responsible for what happened to my brother!?"

" _ **Keith Howard was an abomination. His soul was among the dead, and was brought back into a living body by means of The Wicked Gods. Soulkeepers police life and death, and guide any beings that become lost between worlds. I took his soul back to other side**_."

"Give him back!" Luke shouted. "He didn't deserve to die!"

" _ **While it is true that he was killed by dark magic, deservement has little to do with the current situation. However, I am no demon.**_ " Vurian raised his Duel Disk. " _ **Defeat me in Duel Monsters, and I'll allow him to come back. If you cannot defeat me, his soul will remain on the other side, and his body will decay**_!"

Luke growled before nodding. "Fine. Give me a second." He went back to the car and grabbed his Disk, already with the Dragon Deck he used against Keith loaded into the holder. He attached the device and shuffled the Deck.

"Before we began, allow for a change of scenery." The soulkeeper began. He raised his outstretched arms and the area changed. The sun seemed blocked out to the two of them, and a purple fog rolled in.

"Wh...what's this?" asked Luke.

" **Welcome to the Shadow Game**..." answered Vurian. " **Dark games of chance that can be adapted into any mortal game. I prefer not to add sick torterous gimmicks, so I will simply say this. The loser...dies. Taken off into the darkness, never to return**."

"D...dies...?" Luke said before looking around, hoping to run.

" _ **Do not try to escape.**_ " Vurian demanded. " _ **Do not try to cheat, and do not try to attack me physically. If you do, you will suffer a fate worse than death.**_

" _ **Now...shall we begin**_?"

The two of them drew their opening hands.

"The first move is mine. I summon Dragonic Warrior!" The dragon-knight appeared, brandishing a heavy sword. (1500ATK/1000DEF)

"I set two cards and end my turn." Two reversed cards appeared before Luke.

" _ **I draw**_." The soulkeeper said before slapping a card onto his Disk. " _ **Zombyra the Dark**_!" A red caped superhero with bony clothing appeared. ( 2100ATK/100DEF)

"You know that guy loses two-hundred with every attack, right?" Luke said. (2100-1900ATK)

" _ **It is of no consequence. I activate Polymerization**_." A small red skull with spirits wafting through it appeared next to Zombyra. " _ **This will combine my Zombyra with Maryokutai**_!" The two monsters swirled together in a vortex.

" _ **Awaken, Last Warrior from Another Planet**_!" A fiendish warrior with cyborg implants appeared. ( 2350ATK/2300DEF)

"I set one card and end my turn."

' _Why would he summon Zombyra just to immediately fuse it?'_ "My turn. Draw!" Luke said. "I activate-"

" _ **I**_ _**activate Anti-Spell Fragrance**_." Vurian interrupted as a card depicting an incense jar with a wicked face flipped up. " _ **Now in order to activate Spell Cards, we have to set them face-down first.**_ "

Luke frowned, simply plugging the card into his Disk. He also placed another card sideways, a reversed monster appeared before him.

" _ **Good...it seems that you comprehend my Warrior's effect**_."

"Yeah, I know...as long as he's on the field, neither of us can actually _summon_ monsters."

Vurian drew his card. " _ **I set one monster and one card.**_ " A pair of reversed cards appeared before him. " _ **Then my Last Warrior will anihialate your defense monster**_!"

The warrior lunged and slammed it's fist into the card, a Masked Dragon appearing and vanishing.

" _ **Unfortunately, you can't Special Summon with him. My turn is over.**_ "

"Draw!" Luke shouted. "I flip activate Dark Core."

Vurian gasped. "Not that!"

"That's right. By discarding a card, your Last Warrior from Another Planet is removed from the game!"

The warrior was consumed into a singularity.

"Now we _can_ summon monsters again. And I will. I summon Black Dragon's Chick!" A small red stone appeared before hatching into a small dragon hatchling.

"And it's ability lets me sacrifice him to instantly special summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" The hatchling grew into Jonouchi's classic Dragon. (2400ATK/2000DEF)

"Attack with Black Fire Bullet!" The dragon roared, loosing a fireball at Vurian's Face-down card. A fiendish jar with a face inside appeared before being burned away.

" _ **That was a Morphing Jar. It's flip effect forces us to discard hands and draw five new cards.**_ "

The two of them did so.

"I set one card and end my turn." Luke said.

" _ **My turn. Draw**_!" Vurian slapped a card into the Disk. " _ **By removing Zombyra and Shining Angel from my Graveyard, I special summon Chaos Sorcerer**_!" The hero appeared next to an angel dressed in a toga and the two vanished in spirals of light and darkness before they merged into a dark sorcerer wearing leather implements. (2300ATK)

" _ **Chaos Sorcerer's monster effect**_!" He continued. " _ **By forfeiting his attack for this turn, I can remove your Red-Eyes from the game**_!"

"Oh no!" Luke shouted as the sorcerer placed his hands together, mixing light and dark magics.

" _ **Banish Hex**_!" Vurian shouted, as his sorcerer threw his hands out, casting it's spell, a purple orb that hit Red-Eyes, causing it to collapse in on itself.

" _ **I set two more cards and end my turn.**_ "

Luke grimaced. Red-Eyes Black Dragon was _hardly_ this Deck's strongest monster, but Chaos Sorcerer was obviously going to be a hinderance. He had to get rid of it.

He drew his card and smiled.

"I activate Monster Reborn!" shouted Luke, plugging the card into his Disk. "And I'll resurrect a monster your Morphing Jar caused me to discard!

"Welcome to the field, Burning Dragon!" The Eastern-style magma dragon appeared with a roar. (2500ATK/2100DEF)

"And as you should know, whenever Burning Dragon is summoned, under any circumstance, he burns away every Spell and Trap Card on the Field! Magma Flow!"

The dragon opened it's jaws, magma spilling out and rushing over Vurian's face-down cards. His own face-down was also destroyed.

Burning Dragon loomed ominously over Chaos Sorcerer, growling.

"Burn him up." commanded Luke coldly.

The dragon unleashed a rush of fire and burned Chaos Sorcerer to cinders.

Vurian-3800 Lp.

The Soulkeeper chuckled. " _ **And so damage is finally dealt**_...

"I set two cards. End of turn."

" _ **I...DRAW!**_ " Vurian shouted. He slapped a card onto his Disk. " _ **I activate the Dark Hole Spell Card**_!"

Luke gasped as his monsters were absorbed into an invisible vortex. "Why you-! A move that lacks any kind of skill...coward!"

" _ **Don't berate me, mortal**_! _**I summon**_ **Black Ogre** _ **in attack mode**_!" An enormous swamp giant appeared, with burned hide and hulking, bulging muscles. ( 2500ATK/0DEF)

"Wh...what the-!? How can you summon such a powerful monster without sacrificing anything first!?"

" _ **By paying half it's attack in Life Points!"**_ said Vurian.

Vurian-2550 Lp.

" **Black Ogre attack directly! Vicious Bash!"**

The brutish ogre slammed it's fist into Luke's stomach, causing him to wretch, and cough as the wind was knocked out of him.

Luke-1500 Lp.

"I set one card and end my turn." A reversed card appeared behind the ogre.

Luke eyed the new card cautiously, drawing a card. "Better get rid of it. Reverse card open! Dust Tornado!" A whirlwind whipped up and tore the card apart. However, it's pieces re-assembled, causing it to reform and flip up.

"What gives!?"

" _ **By**_ _destroying_ _ **this card, you activate it**_. **Trap Card- Revelations of the Wicked**!"

It showed a picture of Dark King of the Abyss standing in a pillar of dark miasma.

"So...what does your Trap do?" asked Luke.

"First, it destroys all cards both players control."

"What!?"

A ferocious series of lightning bolts struck Luke's final face-down card.

"Then, we each take 1000 damage."

Two more lightning bolts hit Luke and Vurian.

Luke-500 Lp.

Vurian-1550 Lp.

"Finally we are each allowed to summon an 8-star Monster from our Deck, but they both must be creatures of darkness, and mine gains 1000 attack points!

"I summon Dark Horus!" A black dragon with a falcon-shaped form appeared. (3000-4000ATK)

Luke leafed through his cards. "I summon...Dark End Dragon!" A more fiendish-looking black dragon with a mouth in the center of it's chest appeared with a shriek. (2800ATK)

" **A pathetic creature compared to the godly Horus**!" Vurian taunted.

"Shows what you know. Dark End Dragon effect activate! Dark Fog!" Luke's dragon growled as the mouth on it's torso opened ominously, before a wicked mist spilled over the battlefield.

"By having Dark End lose 1500 attack points, it can send your Dark Horus packing straight to the graveyard!"

Vurian blanched at his monster's disappearance. " **A deity...falling to a mortal dragon**!?"

"That's not all. I summon Blackland Fire Dragon!" The green scaled dragon appeared next to his Dark End Dragon. (1500ATK/800DEF)

"Alright, Mister 'Soulkeeper'...you lose! Attack with two dragons!"

The Blackland Fire Dragon blasted a stream of fire at Vurian, while Dark End Dragon raked him with it's claws, sending him reeling away.

Vurian rose to his knees.

Vurian-0 Lp.

"I...a keeper of order...lost?"

The dragon holograms disappeared as Luke walked up to him.

"You lost, punk. Now bring my brother back."

"I...must...keep my...side of the bargain..." Vurian rose to his feet, but grasped the sides of his head. "Gaaah!"

A dark shadow overcame him as his body went limp, standing completely still.

"What the heck!?" Luke recoiled.

Vurian's body contorted to face him.

" _Ahh...the younger brother of Keith Howard...good to meet your acquaintance._ " He said with a warped voice, as if two were speaking at once.

"What's going on here?" Luke growled. He clutched his fist. "Tell me who you really are!"

" _Mheh-heh-heh._ " The possessed duelist began. " _You don't need to know right now...but to let you know, we indeed have your brother's soul...he's not on the other side again...we have it with us in the living world._

" _This puppet you fought so excellently...he was no...what did he call it? A soulkeeper? Hogwash. He was a mental patient that read too much occult literature. I will dispose of it._

" _If you wish to recall your brother's soul to his sleeping form...seek us out. We are...Black Ice._ "

With that, the evil miasma faded around the man called Vurian, as he collapsed. The purple fog also withdrew from the area, allowing the sun to shine on them.

Luke gasped.

"Black Ice...I'll remember that..." He stooped down, as he turned Vurian over, attempting to rouse his attention, but no reaction. His skin was cold to the touch.

"D...dammit!"

He reached into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone, dialing 9-1-1.

 **0**

Within the better part of an hour, an ambulance had retrieved them and carted them off to the same hospital Keith was.

"You seem to be the center of activity today." The doctor began. "I don't know what happened here, but this man is dead. I can do nothing about it."

Luke gasped.

"You say he engaged you in a game of Duel Monsters, right? Using those cards and those wierd arm devices?"

"Yes." Luke began. He saw fit to withhold the matter of Keith's soul being taken by Vurian, or the Black Ice information. "He challenged me to a game, and I saw that it was a chance to relieve some of the stress of Keith's...condition...after the game, he grasped his head and collapsed."

"How odd...just like with your brother, we can't pin down a cause...no brain damage, no blunt force trauma...no illnesses or toxins in his system."

As the doctor explained this, an officer in uniform walked into the room.

"Mr. Howard?" He began.

"It's not...yes?" Luke asked.

"I'm Chief Teppel. Here on behave of the deceased. I'd like you to submit to a ninety-six hour police watch, and to have that...Duel Disk, is it?"

"That's what they're called, yes."

"Right. I'd like to have it examined by our technician to tell if it played a part in the death."

"The monsters and effects look real, but they're just holograms, officer. Any Kaiba Corporation worker can tell you that."

"I'm aware of that, Mr. Howard, but anything's possible."

Luke paused for a moment, before sighing.

"Okay...just be gentle with it, okay. A Duel Disk is a duelist's utility."

"We'll try our best."

Luke removed the device from his arm(he hadn't removed it since their game, but did remember to lock the holder down so his cards wouldn't fly out during the trip to the hospital) and handed it to Teppel, who tipped his hat.

"Thank you sir. You'll get this back at the end of the watch."

"Could I at least get my Deck back?"

"Like I said, at the end of the watch."

Luke groaned mentally before taking a seat in the chair next to the bed Vurian's body laid in.

He looked to the fresh corpse beside him.

' _This shouldn't have happened to you, man...you didn't deserve it...I'm sorry..._

' _Hell, I'd bet your name isn't even Vurian. You were just some poor guy getting treatment somewhere...and now this Black Ice gets ahold of you...and now you're dead..._ "

He got up and left the room. "I need to get some air..."

 **0**

 **Card Index**

 **Black Ogre**

 **Level 7/EARTH/Beast-Warrior/Effect/2500ATK/0DEF**

 **You can normal summon this card without tributing, but you must pay half this card's ATK in life points to do so.**

 **Revelations of the Wicked**

 **Counter Trap Card**

 **Activate only when this face down card on the field is sent to the graveyard by a card effect; Destroy all cards both players control and inflict 1000 damage to each player, then each player is allowed to Special Summon a Level 8 DARK monster from their Decks. The monster you summon gains 1000 ATK.**

 **Dark End Dragon is adapted to it's manga counterpart from Yu-Gi-Oh GX. It is not a Synchro Monster, but instead a standard Main Deck Effect Monster.**

 **0**

 **A mysterious challenger that takes Keith Howard's soul...a game of darkness...and a mysterious organization called Black Ice. What does this spell for Luke in his quest to bring his brother's soul back? Dark omens ahead in chapter 3...**

 **Until then, my friends, rate and review~ Also if I made any gameplay mistakes, I'd appreciate anyone coming forward and explaining.**


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a painful two weeks.

Without a lead on this mysterious "Black Ice", the police watch, and on top of that, he didn't even have his Duel Disk to have a decent match, Luke was a bit on edge. He remained at home to avoid arousing suspiscion from the authorities, due to his involvement in an apparent "Shadow Game" with a mental patient, and his elder, yet estranged brother in a coma.

Right now, he was leafing through another of his Decks, besides the Dragon-Type one the officer had confiscated, scouting out potential combos.

"Hmm...that Equipment Card...plus that monster...and then that one...mmm-hmm...mmm-hmm...Yeah..."

Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door.

Luke rose up from the seat and promptly answered, but no one was there.

"What the..."

He looked down, and to his surprise, a single Duel Monster card was lying on his door mat.

Dokuroyaiba. A low class three star monster commonly found in toy store and hobby shop discount bins.

Attached to the card was a note. Luke stooped down to retrieve it.

 _Dear Mr. Howard._

 _I know what happened to your brother. Meet me at this location at 9:30 P.M. Sharp. I can answer most of your questions._

Now this was a find, but the young professional duelist was a bit unnerved by the puzzling note card. Reading further, the message continued.

 _Come alone. Make sure no cops follow you. And bring your Deck._

Luke immediately went back inside, and considered it.

' _I_ need _to find out what happened to Keith...and that other guy...but this mystery person...I should go prepared..._ '

He went to a drawer and produced a small flare gun. It wouldn't wound an assailant, but it could provide a quick getaway in case things get dangerous.

Despite not having his signature Dragon Deck, he did have another one he enjoyed using.

' _Alright...whoever you are...If you know anything about all this crap...you'd better be willing to spill it!_ '

 **0**

A few hours after the sun went down, Luke found himself in an abandoned parking lot, illuminated by a single lamp post.

Conveniently, whoever left the note also left an empty Duel Disk handy for him to use.

He strapped the device to his arm, and looked to the cell phone in his pocket.

9:30 PM.

"You showed." A voice called to him.

Luke glared in the direction it came from as a figure approached him. It was a young teenager wearing a gas mask, with hazel eyes, and dirty blond hair kept under a baseball cap. He wore a charcoal blazer, and black pants.

A red and yellow version of the basic Disk was attached to his arm as well.

"Before we start, you wanna tell me who the hell you are, kid?" Luke asked. "By the way, It's Luke _Oren_ now. NOT Howard."

"I know. I just figured to arouse the most attention from you." The mystery guy replied, before removing his mask.

"And I'm not a kid. I'm in my twenties. My name is Mike Shaw. But you can refer to me as 'The Burner.'

"As I said, I'll tell you what I know, but I have to test you first." He held his Disk at the ready as Luke responded in turn.

"Goody. Let's just get this over with." Luke said.

"Duel!"

The two drew their opening hands.

"I'll start." Luke said, slapping a card onto a card zone. "I summon Baphomet in attack mode!" A four armed, goat-like humanoid with birdlike wings appeared. (1400ATK/1800DEF)

"I'll set two cards and end with that."

Mike drew his sixth card.

"First, I'll activate a Magic Card by the name of Hinotama!"

"What!?" Luke gasped. "You gotta be kidding! That card's forbidden!"

"This isn't a tournament duel." Mike asserted as a ball of flame shot from his Disk and hit Luke.

Luke-3400 Lp.

"And next I'll bring out my Blazing Inpachi!" A burning wood effigy appeared, lit with fiendish flame. (1850ATK/0DEF)

"Attack that Baphomet! Fire Jet!"

The wicked effigy threw it's fist out and shot a stream of fire at Luke's monster.

"Reverse card open! Shrink!" Luke announced. "Blazing Inpachi loses half it's attack points!"

The fire from Inpachi lightly licked Berfomet's torso as it's power lessened.

"Now Baphomet, counterattack!"

The fiend hit his arms against it's chest and gave a howl, shattering the burning effigy.

Mike-3075 Lp.

"Good move. I'll put a card face down. Your move."

"Hmph. Draw!" Luke shouted.

He took two cards and put them on his Disk. "I'll combine Baphomet and Gazelle to create Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast!" A horned lion appeared and swirled together with the four armed creature in a vortex and became a large two headed feline, one with a single sharp horn, and the other with ram horns. Large bird wings sprouted from it's back, and a tail with a snake's maw slithered behind it. (2100ATK/1800DEF)

"You're defenseless! Chimera attacks directly! Pulverizing Pounce!" The chimera lunged at Mike, who immediately hit a button on his Disk.

"Waboku!"

Three priestly mages appeared before him, blocking the attack with a sacred barrier.

Luke grimaced. "Turn over."

Mike drew a new card. He immediately turned it around.

"Ookazi!?" Luke shouted before being engulfed in flames.

Luke-2900 Lp.

"Now I'll remove Blazing Inpachi from my graveyard to special summon the Spirit of Flames!" He took the card from his graveyard and pocketed it, before placing another on his Disk. A demonic beast swathed in fire appeared. (1700ATK/1000DEF)

"Next, I'll equip him with Burning Spear! This Equip Spell gives a FIRE monster on the field an additional 400 attack points."

The spirit clutched a spear that was lit aflame. (2100 ATK)

"Attack Chimera!"

The fiend threw the spear at the two-headed beast.

"They'll kill each other!" Luke said.

"No they won't. My Spirit of Flames' attack points increase by 300 during the battle phase!" (2100-2400ATK) "Chimera dies!"

The Spear stabbed Chimera in the torso, causing him to vanish.

"That may be, but Chimera's effect will let me Special Summon one of his materials from the graveyard." Gazelle appeared, in a defensive stance. (1200DEF)

Mike nodded. "I set one card. End of turn."

Luke drew his next card.

"Let's see how you like this! Mystical Space Typhoon!"

A whirlwind ripped the Burning Spear from Spirit of Flames' hands. (1700ATK)

"You like flames so much? Then I'll offer Gazelle as a sacrifice to summon Firewing Pegasus!"

The horned lion was consumed in light and replaced by a majestic stallion with wings of flame. (2250ATK/1800DEF)

"Destroy Spirit of Flames!" Luke commanded. The horse dove down and thrusted it's legs into the fiend, killing it.

Mike-2525 Lp.

"Reverse Card, open! Attack and Receive!" Mike called as his face down flipped up. It was a card depicting a pair of warriors parrying each other's strike. "When I take damage, this card deals 700 effect damage, plus an additional 300 for each copy of 'Attack and Receive' in my graveyard!"

A beam of light hit Luke in the shin.

Luke-2200 Lp.

"Fine. I set a card and end my turn." Luke said.

"My turn. Draw!" Mike added. He held up a Spell Card with a depicting a massive fire ball.

"Meteor of Destruction!?"

"There's more. I flip Rock Bombardment!"

His facedown flipped up, depicting a catapult shooting a rock into a castle.

"By sending a Rock-Type Monster, such as Dissolverrock from my Deck to the graveyard, I can deal 500 damage to my opponent, as well as the Meteor's 1000 damage!"

A melting ghoul appeared on a catapult. The catapult launched it, causing it to slam into a tremendous meteor, which proceeded to hit Luke, who screamed in pain.

Luke-700 Lp.

"I set one monster. End."

Luke drew his next card. ' _What I wouldn't give to have my Prime Material Dragon back..._ '

"I summon Beast Striker in attack mode!" An anthropomorphic wart hog appeared, hefting a gigantic steel hammer. (1850ATK/400DEF)

"Pegasus, attack the reversed monster!"

The pegasus slammed it's hooves into the reversed card. A burning eyeball appeared for a brief moment, before vanishing.

"Beast Striker, follow up! Beast's Hammer!"

The warthog creature leapt up and struck Mike with it's weapon.

Mike-675 Lp.

"Your move." Luke said.

"An impressive move. But now it's my turn!" Mike drew his next card.

"It's over, Luke. I've drawn Soul of Fire."

He held the card up. "By sending a Pyro-Type Monster from my Deck to the graveyard, you take damage equal to half it's attack points!"

A silhouette of Mr. Volcano appeared before turning into a wall of fire that scorched it's way across the asphalt parking lot at Luke.

"I don't think so." Luke said. "Reverse Card open! Energy Absorbing Monolith!"

A large black tablet appeared in front of him, absorbing the flames.

"What the-!?" Mike gasped.

"This Trap negates any effect damage I would take, and converts it into my own Life Points!"

Luke-1750 Lp.

Mike inhaled before placing a hand over his Deck.

"Huh?" Luke intoned as his Beast Striker and Firewing Pegasus vanished.

Mike walked up to him, and held his hand out. "You're just who I need. I don't need to see any more."

Luke cautiously eyeballed his hand before accepting the handshake. "So...you know something about this 'Black Ice?'"

"I'm a dueling mercenary hired to investigate and take as many of them out as I can." Mike replied. "From what I've gathered, they're an underground organization of 'Shadow Duelists' that have been targeting people all over the world, stealing rare cards, siphoning bank accounts, and other criminal enterprises, almost like Marik Ishtar's Ghouls.

"They have some kind of dark magic in their arsenal. You've seen it from that Vurian guy. He was being remotely controlled by their leader. A man named Cerrus. I haven't found out where they operate, but I'm getting closer, and I've no doubt that you'll be more than willing to help me."

"Yeah...they have something to do with my brother's coma. I don't know if they actually took his soul, but I'm at least going to get some justice for it."

Mike smiled.

"Good. I suggest you go home quietly. You're still under police watch, aren't you?"

"Right." Luke removed the spare Duel Disk and handed it to him after taking his cards out of it. "I'll get back to you when it's over."

"And I'll see what else I can dig up on Black Ice. Until then." Mike said, giving a wave, and retreating into the dark of night.

Luke looked around before making a break for his return route home.


	4. Chapter 4

Inside a dark building two cloaked figures converse over the day's events. The first of them snickers while the other leafs through a deck of rare cards.

"Well well Toby, it seems like that lead wasn't false. This guy had plenty of good ones in his repertoire."

"Yeah, we'll be able to boost ourselves up pretty neatly with these cards."

Suddenly, the door slams open. A masked man, Mike Shaw stands in the doorway, his Duel Disk at the ready.

"Who the hell are you? You got a beef with us, kid?

"I'm no 'kid'. All I know is that you are my enemy."

"Fun. If you are going to fight us, just know that it'll be two on one!" The goon called "Toby" said.

The three of them powered on their duel disks and drew their opening hands of five cards.

0

Toby's back slammed onto the floor, wracked in pain from Hinotama burns.

Mike walked over and held him by the collar.

"Now tell me what I want to know. Where is Black Ice HQ?" He demanded with a menacing calmness in his voice.

Toby seethed before going limp. A dark blue-green Eye of Wdjat burned into his forehead.

" **It's too late, Mr. Shaw.** " He said in a much deeper, distorted voice. " **Neither you, nor your friend, Mr. Oren can stop what is to come.** "

"We'll see about that." Mike replied, dropping him and walking for the exit. The sigil vanished as Toby was released and faded from consciousness.

' _Luke._ " Mike thought. " _I hope you're_ _doing better than I am._ "

0

The sun started to set over the city, the once blue expanse fading into a deep red before becoming the dark of night.

The blond duelist found himself strolling through an alleyway, eager to return home after a long day of investigating Black Ice. So far, no leads. Many assumed he was asking about frosted asphalt, which would be impossible in these summer months.

Suddenly, the air current seemed to change.

Luke stood, back to the wall, facing a robed individual, with a short grey beard, and stubbly mustache. The stranger approached with a stoic demeanor, before lowering his hood, and exposing his full face. An older man with parted grey hair and white eyes.

"Luke Oren...formerly Luke Howard. I've heard of your skill at _Duel Monsters_ , but I'm rather...unimpressed. I'd pictured you taller."

"Well we can't all be two and a half meter tall goliaths, can we? What the hell do you want, creep?" Luke growled.

"Nothing much...just... **your soul**." The stranger said ominously, as the pendant on his neck let out a purple glow. A black fog pervaded the area, carrying a ghastly pressure with it.

"This-!? Shadow Game!" Luke growled.

"Indeed. My name is Senrou Kagegiri...duelist executioner of Black Ice. Yours is a strong soul...such a soul will further Black Ice's plans considerably..." The older man said, holding up a dark blue hued version of the Duel Disk.

"And a battle with Bandit Keith's brother...will be most amusing."

Luke grimaced as he activated his own Disk. "I'm not doing this entirely for him! I'll kick you around for the sheer fun of it!"

"Let's begin." Kagegiri said.

"Duel!" They cried in unison.

"I'll take the first move. I set one monster in defense mode, and end my turn." Kagegiri announced as a reversed card appeared before him on the ground, pointed sideways.

"My turn. Draw!" Luke shouted. "I summon Spear Dragon!" A pterosaur-like dragon appeared with a shriek. (1900ATK/0DEF)

"Attack! Dragon Lance!" The dragon opened it's beak and spewed a swirling gust of wind from inside, shattering the card. However, a dark figure lunged at Luke, planting itself in front of him.

"What the-!?"

Kagegiri-2100 Lp.

The creature was an ugly Fiend, with sickly tumourus flesh, and bulging eyeballs studded all over it's body. It was hunched over, with a wretched figure, and claw-like protrusions on the end of it's gangly arms.

"What is this... **THING** doin' on my field?!"

"Meet **Thousand-Eyes Wraith**! Heh." Kagegiri began. "It's a FLIP Monster. When it flips face up, it shifts over to your field as a Permanent Spell Card. And while you control it, your whole hand is revealed to me!"

"No way..."

One by one, Luke's cards were holographically projected so Kagegiri could view them.

"Hmm...Dark End Dragon, Burst Breath, **Cleansing Water** , and Axe Dragonute...Not overly threatening."

"Come on and quit taunting! In case you didn't know, your Life took a pretty big hit there."

"Right...Spear Dragon's piercing effect...but now it shifts to defense mode."

True to his word, the pterosaur creature folded it's wings and lowered it's bill. (0DEF)

Luke grimaced. "I set a card. Turn over."

"My turn, draw!" Kagegiri exclaimed. "Spell Card, Soul Exchange!"

"Soul Exchange?! That lets you sacrifice my monsters!"

"Indeed! Spear Dragon, begone!"

The diminutive dragon vanished.

"Rise up, **Thousand-Eyes Golem**!"

A stone titan with glowing eye carvings all over it's body appeared. (2200ATK/3000DEF)

"As long as this monster is face up, your set cards are rendered useless!"

An eyeball sprouted from Luke's set Burst Breath, squinting as if mocking him.

"Direct attack! Ocular Assault!" Kagegiri's golem shot rays that impacted Luke from every angle, painfully hitting him and shredding his shirt.

Luke-1800 Lp.

"Turn end." Kagegiri said, his face locked in a distant, commanding grin.

Luke drew the top card of his Deck. "Take this, Reload!"

"It doesn't matter. Your new hand will be revealed to me plain as day!"

After shuffling the three cards in his hamd into his Deck and drew three new ones, he immediately slammed one into his Disk.

"Not anymore! Emergency Provisions lets me ditch this Wraith and gain 1000 Life Points!" Thousand-Eyes Wraith vanished and a light spread over Luke.

Luke-2800 Lp.

"How cute. You think you have a chance." Kagegiri scoffed.

"I'm not done." Luke said. "I activate another Spell Card. Ancient Rules! And with it, I'm allowed to Special Summon a monster from my Hand, without tributing! Come out, Hyozanryu!"

A dragon made of living diamond appeared before him with a majestic cry. (2100ATK/2800DEF)

"I've never really understood why that card is so expensive...it doesn't have an effect, and it's stats are utterly pathetic." Kagegiri taunted.

"Just take your damned turn already."

"Very well. I draw and summon **Thousand-Eyes Falcon**." A green legless bird with countless eyes appeared with a shriek, hitting Hyozanryu with a beam from it's beak.

"If it HAD an effect, it would've been negated...furthermore your Hyozanryu can neither attack, NOR change it's battle mode!"

"And now I activate **Millenium Burst**!" He shouted, holding up a Spell card. "Because I have three "Thousand-Eyes" Monsters, I can deal you 1500 damage!"

A bolt of evil light struck Luke square in the chest.

Luke-1300 Lp.

"I set 1 card face down. my turn is over."

"Draw!" The teen growled. "Time to see if I can turn this around. " **Grave-Full Charity**!"

The card was a Spell, bearing the image of an angelic skeleton, with it's hands clasped as if in prayer.

"By excluding a monster, along with two Spell Cards from my graveyard, I can draw three cards! The downside is, I have to remove my whole hand from the game at the end of this turn."

He took Spear Dragon's card as well as Ancient Rules and Reload from his graveyard and pocketed them before drawing three cards.

"Excellent. With this, I can put out at least a few of those ugly eyes!"

"How?" Kagegiri smirked. "All I see is that tacky zirconium statue on your field."

"It's about to get a lot stronger! The Spell Card Backup Rider will increase this 'statue's' atk by 1500!" (2100-3600ATK)

"And now my reverse card! Open, Burst Breath!" Luke growled.

The set card flipped up, and Hyozanryu glowed with white light.

"Not so fast!" His opponent shouted. "Seven Tools of the Bandit!"

Kagegiri-1100 Lp.

The glow faded away from the diamond dragon, only for Luke to start snickering.

"Is something funny, boy?"

"Yup. You fell for my trick! Now nothing can stop my final move! I activate the **Eternal Dia** card!"

He held up a Spell Card that caused Hyozanryu to ascend into the air and absorb moonlight particles.

Kagegiri watched the dragon with a scrutinous glare. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Hyozanryu is adopting his TRUE form." Luke grinned.

"Feast your eyes on this! **Golden Diamond Dragon**!!"

The dragon flew back down to it's master's side, now shining a radiant gold, with armor plates on it's head, wings, legs, torso and tail. (2800ATK/2100DEF)

"Let me fill you in on what this guy can do. It can attack EVERY monster on the enemy field once each, deals piercing damage, AND gains 100 ATK every tme it does so!"

"It can't be!" Kagegiri gasped.

"But it is! Golden Diamond Dragon, attack Thousand-Eyes Falcon AND Thousand-Eyes Golem!"

"Sorry boy, but I planned for that!" His opponent sneered. "Reverse card, open! Ring Of Destruction! A trap that destroys a monster on the field and then inflicts damage to both players based on their attack points! It's been fun but all good things must indeed come to an end!"

Golden Diamond Dragon was shackled with a collar of grenades. It instantly exploded, shrapnel hitting both Kagegiri and Luke. The two of them were thrown backwards with Luke's back hitting hitting the wall.

When he opened his eyes, Kagegiri along with the cloud of black mist were long gone. "Damn. Kagegiri...Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be seeing even more of that guy..."

In another location, Kagegiri manifested from mist and kneeled before a shadowy figure.

"Master...I have failed you this time, but I shall attain the Howard boy's soul in due time."

The figure grinned to him. "For your sake old man, I hope you will..."

 **0** **Luke Oren survives another battle with an agent of the mysterious Black Ice.** **Who is this mysterious leader, and what are his intentions?** **0** **Sorry guys. no card index this time. Im limited to the fanfiction app these days, and theres a character limit. Until next time, rate and review~**


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